Egg and milk allergy in adults

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Abstract
Nineteen adult patients representing a total of 24 medical histories of immediate adverse reactions to egg or cows’ milk underwent 1) standardized questioning about signs/symptoms occurring less than 2 h after ingestion of egg or milk, 2) skin prick test, RAST and histamine release test, and 3) titrated, oral, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled challenge (DBPCFC) with fresh egg or milk. Eleven medical histories (46%) were confirmed by DBPCFC in 10 patients (53%). All DBPCFC‐positive patients experienced gastrointestinal symptoms, and in 80% of the patients, gastrointestinal symptoms were accompanied by respiratory or skin symptoms. Threshold doses varied between 50 mg and 250 g, with 4 patients presenting objective signs following 5 g or less. DBPCFC‐positive patients reported significantly more symptoms and had a significantly higher number of positive tests than had DBPCFC‐negative patients. None of the tests were in significant concordance with DBPCFC, although RAST showed a sensitivity of 100%. Thus, DBPCFC cannot be substituted in the diagnosis of milk and egg allergy in adults. The use of titrated, fresh foods in DBPCFC proved to be a safe and well‐controlled procedure.